PostHog FOSS provides an open-source, self-hostable suite of product development tools, including analytics, session replays, feature flags, and error tracking. It targets product managers, engineers, and data analysts seeking to understand user behavior and improve product success. The primary benefit is a comprehensive, integrated platform for product insights, available for free with a generous tier or via self-hosting.

How It Works

PostHog FOSS offers an all-in-one platform for product development, integrating various functionalities like event-based analytics, session replays, feature flagging, and error tracking. It utilizes autocapture or manual instrumentation for event tracking, allowing analysis via visualization or SQL. The system supports data pipelines for custom transformations and real-time syncing to external tools, alongside LLM observability for tracing and cost management.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Self-hosting (Hobby Deploy): bash /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/posthog/posthog/HEAD/bin/deploy-hobby)"
• Prerequisites: Linux, Docker, 4GB memory recommended.
• Cloud: Sign up at PostHog Cloud US or PostHog Cloud EU.
• Setup: Install JavaScript snippet or SDKs for various frontend, mobile, and backend languages.
• Docs: Self-hosting docs, Troubleshooting guide.

Highlighted Details

• Comprehensive product analytics, web analytics, session replays, feature flags, experiments, error tracking, surveys, data warehouse, and LLM observability.
• Supports data syncing from external tools like Stripe and Hubspot.
• Offers data pipelines for custom transformations and real-time data export.
• Generous free tier for cloud offering (1M events, 5k recordings, etc.).

Maintenance & Community

• This repository is a read-only mirror; issues and PRs should be raised in the main PostHog repository.
• Community links: Docs, Community, Roadmap.

Licensing & Compatibility

• MIT Expat license for the core FOSS repository. The ee directory has a separate license.
• Compatible with commercial use and closed-source linking, provided the ee directory's license is respected.

Limitations & Caveats

Self-hosted hobby deployments are recommended for up to 100k events/month and do not receive customer support or guarantees. The ee directory contains proprietary code with a different license, meaning this FOSS mirror is not 100% FOSS if that directory is included.